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Research

The PEERS Project curriculum addresses the challenges faced by teens today and is backed by scientific research on the teen brain, key predictors for change, and the effectiveness of peer to peer mentoring.

> Today's Challenges

The teenage years are a confusing and overwhelming time, where teens are faced with bullying, peer pressure, abusive relationships, and other challenges. The decisions they make during this time can affect them for the rest of their lives.

Four in ten sexually active girls have an STD that can cause infertility. There are 40 types of HPV (human papillomavirus) alone. (CDC fact sheet)

> The Teen Brain

The teen brain changes rapidly. The connections between brain cells and the pruning of brain pathways (those that are used frequently grow stronger, while others will die and wither off) are essential for the development of coordinated thought action and behavior.

In fact, the frontal lobe of the brain (which is essentially the “control panel” of our personality and ability to communicate) does not fully mature in young people until their early to mid 20’s.

The PEERS Project recognizing these as the crucial years to educating our youth and developing the problem solving and relational skills needed to succeed and become healthy adults.

> Key Predictors for Change

One goal of The PEERS Project is to increase the belief and commitment that you can achieve your goals, avoid risky behaviors, and stand firm in your values. Research has shown several key predictors for change. In The PEERS Project curriculum we tap into:

Values: being able to identify and defend your personal values

Personal Efficacy: confidence in your ability to engage in refusal skills and avoid situations that could lead to risky behaviors.

Independence from Peer Influence: the desire and ability to follow own value system and personal goals

Self-Justification: understanding how rationalization and justification are often used to legitimize initiation or continuation of risky behaviors

Cognitive Dissonance

In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time; performs an action that is contradictory to their beliefs, ideas, or values; or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas or values.[1][2]

Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency and to reduce this discomfort. New research even indicates dissonance causes negative physical tension where a person feels actual physical discomfort.

The PEERS curriculum helps teens understand cognitive dissonance and how the ABC’s of resolving these inconsistencies lead to good or bad outcomes.

Dissonance Example: You are a cigarette smoker and you love your child very much. You know that cigarette smoking is linked to cancer and early death and you want to be alive to enjoy your grandchildren.

A Attitude – You change your attitude to restore consistency “it is actually not unhealthy to smoke, I see a lot of old people who have smoked all their lives and they are ok!”

B Behavior – You change your behavior by acknowledging smoking is bad and you stop smoking to restore consistency.

C Compensation – Acknowledging the use of compensating poor behaviors with positive actions. “Yes, smoking is bad. Yes, I smoke regularly; however, I do a lot of other healthy behaviors like exercising, dieting, and actively participating in sports.”

D Denial and rationalization – Acknowledging the behavior is unhealthy, dismissing the behavior, and minimizing the harmful effects to resolve your dissonance. “You know what, sure smoking is bad, and I smoke, but I just don’t care. It’s not really as big as deal as people say it is”

> Peer to Peer Mentoring

As you know, teens are surrounded by negative peer pressure every day. Positive peer support systems, such as The PEERS Project, help teens avoid reckless behaviors.

Youth are highly influenced by a desire to please their friends, to be part of the “in crowd.” It is much easier for young people to choose to avoid reckless behaviors if their friends share these values, and they are empowered by fellow peers who they can relate more with. [3, 4]

Teens have an influential role over their younger peers because they are actually “walking the talk” by having healthy relationships and avoiding risky behaviors, including alcohol and other drugs, and sexual activity.

Compared to teens who engage in reckless behaviors, teens who avoid them are more likely:

To perform better academically

To reach future goals

To have a healthy self-image

To have greater resistance to peer pressure and more respect for parental and societal values [5]